Most of us should be familiar with Max Brooks already from his zombie survival manual (a copy of which I gave my girlfriend this Christmas), but equally interesting is his faux-historical novel World War Z. The book describes itself as "an oral history of the zombie war." And that's pretty much what it is, a collection of "interviews" with survivors of the worldwide zombie plague.
I have to admit that the writing is not as mature as I'd like; he makes a lot of rookie-type fiction-writer moves like being a little over enthusiastic with the military jargon, the occasional use of avoidable clichés, and an ever present hyper-specificity. But these things aside, it's a very thought provoking read for zombie nuts and normal folk alike. Especially, if you already harbor a deep mistrust of the Chinese.
Read it.
EDIT: Moved to Catagory Zombies in Film and Fiction - NIE
"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" |
World war z was a fun read.
The survival guide was more comedy.
I enjoyed them both. Some people blast the survival guide to hell and back, but it wasnt wrote in a serious mind set...
Kalimah
When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles! Scream and shout!
I have the survival guide but not World War Z...yet.
Bow Chica Bow Wow!
what was your favorite story? mine was the one where the Chinese sailors stole their own sub. miss trust indeed>
Both books are great, I've read them multiple times.
The story in WWZ about the feral child gave me chills.
The battle rages but they fight in vain
When all is done it must begin again
-"Freya", the Sword
hmm..mine was when the american troops started to fight properly, and started to use the square tactic to fight against the horde of Z's
The one word that describes how i live: B.E.B.Z
(Bullets, Explosions, Babes, Zombies)
Oh, yeah, you heard me! THE MUPPET SHOW SAID SO!!!
I know there's alot of dislike for Max Brooks on the forums but I enjoyed both the survival guide and world war z
I liked the whole North Korea dispearing into caves....scarry...
Did they manage to survive?
Did they just become tightly packed zombie food?
How you rike dat hans brix!
Kalimah
When in danger, or in doubt, run in circles! Scream and shout!
I mean, yeah, his Zombies are different from Romero's (That's the reason I've heard most when Brooks-haters were questioned), but does it really matter if they're different? It's a different take on zombies, it's not that big a deal. If people need all their zombies to be Romero Zombies, they aren't really zombie fans, they're Romero fans.
I love Romero and Brooks, they aren't mutually exclusive.
Anyway, I loved WWZ and Zombie Survival Guide... Has anyone read the leaked script? I've been searching the internets for it, but can't find it anywhere.
i'll tell you right now why i hate him, because people who come to the forum because of the book and quote it like the bible and tend to act as though the only possible zombie that we can ever see are what he proposes, it's bloody irritating since last time i checked, brook's is just as ignorant as any of us, and if there's one thing that irritates me on this Earth more than anything else, it's that people talk about something that they have absolutely no knowledge of and convince people to follow him...like churches! yay. Also, although blades are fun and all, unless your Ahnuld's Conan the Barbarian and Lance Armstrong Hybrid while on Steroids, you will tire, and you will falter, and you will be infected, guns are fun plain and simple, guns allow you to stay away from the infected, guns allow you to intimidate goblins and to kill them if necessary, and it's not very easy to take your OFM if you have a knife
cars are also fun, if i have my choice of a car or a bike i'm going to opt for the car most of the time, last thing i want to do is get to an area and be dead tired from riding my bike only to see a group of scraggling snarling zombies waiting with open mouths to greet me
now i don't know if he specifically says anywhere in the book that it is meant to be a joke or not but if he doesn't then it's pure crap
Brook's followers need to be told 3 things over, and over, and over again until the speakers voice dies
WE HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF ZOMBIES so don't treat it like absolute irrefutable fact
LOVE YOUR GUN They're fun and they will save your arse
CARS make life easier
Actually, that's exactly the answer I've been looking for. The reason, I think, for this, is that World War Z and Zombie Survival guide are the only exposure to zombies most brooks fans have. Brooks Zombies are my personal favorites, but I accept that the rules that apply to them only apply when talking about the Brooks Canon. Just like Romero Rules only apply in the Romero movies.
Seeing as I don't accept Zombies (other than voodoo ones) as a possibility, I know to look at different versions and interpretations of zombies. There are Brooks Zombies, Romero Zombies, Rodriguez zombies (Planet Terror), and every different type of zombie you can think of.
I also really hate people who apply rules to Zombies and take them as Gospel Truth in all cases. The rules of Zombies differ depending on what kind of zombies you're talking about. I will thank everyone to have an open mind when it comes to zombies.